After dropping rainfall that brought a number of casualties to the central and southern Philippines, the tropical cyclone known as Lingling, and locally as Agaton in the Philippines has finally wound down.

The Joint Typhoon Warning Center issued their final bulletin on Tropical Cyclone Lingling on Monday, January 20. On that day, Lingling's maximum sustained winds were down to 25 knots/28.7 mph/46.3 kph. At 2100 UTC/4 p.m. EST, Lingling was near 6.3 north and 128.8 east, about 344 nautical miles/395.9 miles/ 637.1 km west of Koror. Lingling was moving to the south-southeast at 6 knots/6.9 mph/11.1 kph.

The Joint Typhoon Warning Center or JTWC combined data from two satellites to create a composite satellite image of Lingling on January 20 at 11:27 UTC/6:27 a.m. EST. JTWC used data from the Tropical Rainfall Measuring satellite called TRMM and the Japan Meteorological Agency's MTSAT-2 satellite. The image combined rainfall from TRMM, and clouds from MTSAT-2's infrared instrument. Despite Lingling's center being west of Palau and east of Mindanao, Philippines and over the waters of the Northwestern Pacific, heavy rain was occurring in Luzon and Visayas, far northwest of Lingling's center of circulation. That rainfall, however was not associated with Lingling, but a northeastern monsoon.

Vertical wind shear stretched the storm out, further weakening its circulation and pushed the convection and showers associated with the tropical cyclone to the northwest of the storm's center. By January 21, Lingling was a remnant low pressure area.

People in the southern Philippines are used to heavy rainfall this time of the year but rainfall totals have recently been exceptionally high. A tropical low known as System 91W, located northeast of Mindanao has been an almost permanent feature on weather maps for the past week. NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's TRMM satellite has provided data on rainfall and flooding that was used to create a map of the event.

System 91W has caused nearly continuous rain in the area of northeastern Mindanao triggering floods and landslides that have caused the reported deaths of 34 people.

The Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission or TRMM satellite data was used in a TRMM Multi-Satellite Precipitation Analysis (TMPA), produced at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, in Greenbelt, Md. The TMPA combines the rainfall estimates generated by TRMM and other satellites. The analysis was done for the period from January 10-17, 2014. Extremely high rainfall totals of over 1,168 mm (about 46 inches) for that week were found near northeastern Mindanao. This past Monday, January 13, a landslide on Dinagat Island caused the deaths of six people in this area.

Heavy rain amounts (calculated from satellite data), flood inundation calculations (from a hydrological computer models) and landslide potential maps are updated as often as every three hours globally. Results are shown at the "Global Flood and Landslide Monitoring" TRMM web site pages: trmm.gsfc.nasa.gov.

System 91W, known locally as "Agaton," continues to drop heavy rainfall on parts of the Philippines, and warnings remained in effect on January 17-18. Philippines warnings in effect include Public Storm Warning Signal #1 for southern Leyte, Surigao del Norte and Sur, Siargao Island, Dinagat Province, Agusan del Norte and Sur, Davao Oriental and Compostella Valley.

On January 17 at 1500 UTC/10 a.m. EST, System 91W was centered near 9.7 north latitude and 127.6 east longitude, about 370 nautical miles/425.8 miles/685.2 km east-northeast of Zamboanga, Philippines. Satellite data indicated that convection continued to flare up along the northern quadrant of the storm. The Joint Typhoon Warning Center gives System 91W a high chance for becoming a tropical depression in the next 24 hours.

Residents of the Philippines should be on guard for more heavy rainfall, flash floods, and mudslides as System 91W lingers.

The tropical low pressure area known as System 91W that has been plaguing the central and southern Philippines for the last couple of days continues to bring floods and heavy rainfall today, January 16. NASA's Aqua satellite passed over System 91W and identified powerful thunderstorms with the potential for heavy rainfall, moving back toward the Visayas and Mindanao regions.

The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder or AIRS instrument aboard Aqua captured an infrared image of System 91W on Jan. 16 at 05:23 UTC/12:23 a.m. EST that shows high, cold cloud top temperatures, colder than -63F/-52C in the western quadrant of the low pressure area. The storm dropped heavy rains and caused flooding and landslides in the last couple of days in the central region of Visayas and southern region of Mindanao, Philippines, then moved east, back over the Northwestern Pacific Ocean. Today, System 91W is moving in a southwesterly direction and back toward Mindanao.

On January 16, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) of Quezon City, Philippines noted there were 13 landslide incidents and 6 flood/flash flooding incidents. The heavy rains have caused 31 deaths and 36 injuries. In addition 7 people were still missing. NDRRMC noted that more than 376,000 people have been affected. For the latest information and local forecasts, visit: http://www.ndrrmc.gov.ph/

On January 16 at 1500 UTC/10 a.m. EST, System 91W was centered near 9.4 north latitude and 127.7 east longitude, about 370 nautical miles east-northeast of Zamboanga, Philippines.

The Joint Typhoon Warning Center or JTWC gives System 91W a high chance for becoming a tropical depression in the next 24 hours.

The JTWC noted that a recent microwave satellite image showed that the low-level center of the system is consolidating and organizing. Convection (rising air that forms thunderstorms) is fragmented in the northern quadrant of the system. Sea surface temperatures are warm enough to assist in developing the low into a tropical depression, according to JTWC.

Forecasters at JTWC noted that dynamic computer model guidance is weakly developing System 91Was it drifts towards Mindanao. Residents in the Mindanao and Visayas regions should be in guard for more heavy rainfall, flash flooding and mudslides.